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The Joe Rogan ExperienceThe Joe Rogan Experience

Joe Rogan Experience #2216 - Luke Bryan

This episode is brought to you by The Farmer's Dog. Get 50% off your first box by heading to http://thefarmersdog.com/rogan today! Luke Bryan is a country singer/songwriter, philanthropist, and broadcast personality. His latest album, "Mind of a Country Boy," is available now. www.lukebryan.com

Luke BryanguestJoe RoganhostGuestguest
Oct 23, 20243h 3mWatch on YouTube ↗

EVERY SPOKEN WORD

  1. 0:01 – 1:32

    Meeting in Vegas: family backstage, residency life, and avoiding the gambling trap

    1. NA

      (drum roll) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out.

    2. LB

      The Joe Rogan Experience.

    3. JR

      Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (rock music) Hey, what's up, Luke? (laughs)

    4. LB

      Good. This has been... Thank... This has been a long time in the making.

    5. JR

      Well, d- I need to thank you for taking care of my family when they came to see your show.

    6. LB

      Well, I hope they had a great time, and-

    7. JR

      They had a fucking fantastic time.

    8. NA

      (laughs)

    9. JR

      But it was also, my daughter was, like, freaked out 'cause she was going to the show. She didn't know if she was gonna get to meet you, and her friend didn't know they were gonna get to meet you either, so-

    10. LB

      So we, we were able to keep that, uh, uh, keep that a good little, good little, uh, good little secret too, so-

    11. JR

      Yeah, it was cool. They had the best time. They, they came back-

    12. LB

      Yeah.

    13. JR

      ... beaming, so thank you.

    14. LB

      Well, Vegas, you know, that was wrapping up Vegas, so, uh, yeah. We, uh, that was a, that was a, a fun two years of, of residency there.

    15. JR

      Did you do two years there?

    16. LB

      I did... Yeah, I did two years, uh, 26 shows per year.

    17. JR

      (exhales)

    18. LB

      Dude, man, like-

    19. JR

      Vegas will take a little piece of your soul.

    20. LB

      Well, here-

    21. JR

      Just a little tiny piece every day. (laughs)

    22. LB

      Well, the thing about it is, like, all of that get to Vegas and, like, you know, you run to the craps table or blackjack table your whole life getting to Vegas. Dude, I got all that. I could... I'm like, I get to Vegas, I'm like, "Man, let's just sit in a room, watch a little sports," and I got, got the gambling out of the system.

    23. JR

      Well, that's good.

    24. LB

      (laughs)

  2. 1:32 – 4:49

    Luke’s early gambling influence: poker dad stories and craps-table zen

    1. JR

      Did you use to... Did you used to gamble a lot?

    2. LB

      You know, I've always been... I've never been a sports gambler. Ne- uh, my dad, my, uh... But my dad raised me to kind of be a poker player kind of kid. He was a, like a... I mean, I used to joke, if my dad didn't play poker, we'd have never had Santa Claus, you know?

    3. JR

      (laughs)

    4. LB

      He... I mean, he was r- I mean, he was just a crazy little poker player and, like, a little pool hustler, and then, uh, and then, um...

    5. JR

      Oh, so he was all in. He was all in with the gambling.

    6. LB

      Well, so one of my dad's fa- one of my dad's famous quotes is, um... So we, we, uh, we... He flies me out to Vegas when I'm 21 or whatever and, man, I had, like... We were in college, and I took, like, 300 or 400 bucks with me, you know, just broke as shit. And, uh, two hours into the trip lose my money and, you know, this was like, well, where we were still had truck phones, you know. I'm not even sure we were, like, toting... No, we certainly didn't have, like, the Motorola Razr where he could just call me, so he just goes looking for him and he calls my hotel room, and I'm... He's like, "Boy, what you doing?" He's real Georg- real southern Georgia. I said, "I done lost all my damn money and he- hell with this place." He goes, "Well, you ain't gonna win it back in the goddamn room." (laughs)

    7. JR

      (laughs)

    8. NA

      (laughs)

    9. LB

      So, I mean, once you have that-

    10. JR

      That mindset?

    11. LB

      ... that mindset in gambling, certainly. I mean, when that's your dad going... And so that's been a famous saying with my buddies, uh, you know, when they, when they're down and out, down two or three grand and they're pouting over the bar, you know, "You're not gonna win it back at the goddamn bar."

    12. JR

      (laughs)

    13. LB

      So... But I did... I went through phases where, you know, I, I never really got financially behind when I didn't have money. I would just... I, I controlled it pretty well, and I, I did my two years out there. I never really, uh, had any big beats or anything like that, but I do love to just... Man, I love to just sit there, have a drink, have a cigar and watch dice and cards, 'cause you're just not... You're just sitting there and your mind's checked out.

    14. JR

      Right.

    15. LB

      It's like no different than, you know, going to the driving range and hitting golf balls or sitting on the bank fishing or sitting in a deer stand, so-

    16. JR

      Right.

    17. LB

      It's been... But I got out of there. I got all my gambling, at least for now, out of my system. But it was great to meet your kids there, and, um-

    18. JR

      I really appreciate it. They, they really enjoyed it. And like I said, they were just un- they were blown away. Meeting you, they're like... (exhales)

    19. LB

      Well, it was a fun show because, um, we got to really do a lot of bells and whistles out there that aren't available on normal shows when you're, you know, um, out touring and stuff, because you're having to take down stuff, be real mobile out there. We put a-

    20. JR

      Right.

    21. LB

      ... put a lot of stuff in the room and-

    22. JR

      Well, that's nice that the, that's one good thing about the residency. You know, you're going back to the same spot over-

    23. LB

      Right.

    24. JR

      ... and over again.

    25. LB

      And we had our routine. I mean, I have my, my room and, you know, about 6:30 I'd hop in the shower, run down there and get on stage about 8:30 and knock it out, and 10:30, uh, somewhere at a craps table. (laughs)

  3. 4:49 – 8:58

    Joe’s UFC betting history and the league crackdown after scandals

    1. JR

      I'm l- I'm lucky I don't gamble. I don't do it. If I-

    2. LB

      You never got into sports?

    3. JR

      Nope, nope, nope. I mean, I used to bet on fights. Back in the early days of the UFC I used to bet on fights, and they... One day they made it illegal, but I already stopped doing it 'cause I was like, this is probably not a good thing for me to be betting on things-

    4. LB

      (laughs)

    5. JR

      ... I'm commentating on 'cause I can't affect the outcome.

    6. LB

      Right.

    7. JR

      But I sometimes I-

    8. LB

      But it's still quite close.

    9. JR

      I also sometimes know some shit.

    10. NA

      (laughs)

    11. LB

      (laughs)

    12. JR

      You know, there's been a bunch of times. So one of my business partners, I, I would just y- I would tell him to, what to bet on, and we were at, like, 84% at one time.

    13. LB

      Wow.

    14. JR

      It was crazy.

    15. LB

      Wow.

    16. JR

      For, like, six or seven fights in a row, w- six or seven fight cards in a row, we were about 84%. 'Cause every now and then they would have these guys who were coming in from Japan or from Russia and, uh, the, the oddsmakers didn't know who these guys were. And I was like, "Oh Jesus Christ. Bet the house."

    17. LB

      And you-

    18. JR

      Yeah.

    19. LB

      You already were-

    20. JR

      Oh yeah, I knew those guys.

    21. LB

      ... studying them for... Yeah, you had a-

    22. JR

      Years. So I knew, I knew everything about these guys. I'm like, "Jesus Christ. Bet the fucking house."

    23. LB

      Lay, lay up. (laughs)

    24. JR

      Yeah, there was a few, like when Anderson Silva came into the UFC, I was like, "Bet the house. Bet the house on the Brazilian."

    25. LB

      Oh, love it.

    26. JR

      Whatever you got, I go, throw it all at this guy.

    27. LB

      (laughs)

    28. JR

      You can't fucking lose 'cause when he came into the UFC, he was, like, in his prime. And I got to see him evolve in Japan and then later on in England. And so when he, when he came in the UFC, I think he was a favorite over this guy Chris Lima, who's a really tough guy, but I'm like, "Whatever the, whatever the odds are, fucking throw it all at that guy."

    29. LB

      I bet y'all. Were you, were you betting with him too at that-

    30. JR

      No-... if I wasn't betting, and I had already stopped.

  4. 8:58 – 11:02

    Luke’s sports-betting era: big stakes, going rogue, and 'Uncut Gems' anxiety

    1. LB

      I had a little-

    2. JR

      (laughs)

    3. LB

      So, I went my whole life no sports betting. Through college, I mean, my- I'd- through college I'd walk in and my buddies back then, they spliced seven T- eight TVs together, and they're- they got all their-

    4. JR

      Oh, God. (laughs)

    5. LB

      They got all their notes-

    6. JR

      (laughs)

    7. LB

      And- and I'm like ... And I'm like-

    8. JR

      That's hilarious.

    9. LB

      ... "Dude, no wonder you're fucking- you got all Ds and you're- you're- you're-

    10. JR

      (laughs)

    11. LB

      You're about to get shipped out of college." But I- I survived all that, and, uh, me and a buddy, we started picking two games a- a week, and we would load up. And this was- this was like, um, six years ago, f- uh, five years ago. So, I would load up like $20,000 a game.

    12. JR

      Ooh.

    13. LB

      And ... But I- I was strict, and I'd- and I- I had my deal. And yeah, it just, uh, we'd like bet. I mean, just take Alabama in the points in the first half. You do that most of the year, I mean, it was 80%, so we did well, and then my buddy moved away from me and we quit talking about it, and I just ... Then I went rogue for like two years. I was betting like Utah State, uh, uh, you know, the West Coast game, midnight, just throwing bets in, and I was like, "Man, I'm out."

    14. JR

      (laughs)

    15. LB

      "So, I'll stop." But, um-

    16. JR

      Did you see Uncut Gems?

    17. LB

      Yes.

    18. JR

      (laughs)

    19. LB

      Dude, that movie tripped-

    20. JR

      That movie gives you so much anxiety. (laughs)

    21. LB

      That movie tripped me out.

    22. JR

      I think it tripped everybody out there. Uh, what a great movie.

    23. LB

      Especially if you've dipped your toe into that world-

    24. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    25. LB

      ... of like ... But now-

    26. JR

      Chasing that money.

    27. LB

      And I've got buddies that do parlays and like I'm not even sure I even understand the inner workings of parlays now.

    28. JR

      Yeah.

    29. LB

      And still, I mean, and teasers and all that-

    30. JR

      Right, right, right.

  5. 11:02 – 18:28

    Referees, big-money temptation, and Dana White’s extreme gambling stories

    1. JR

      It is, and you gotta think there's people that are involved. Like, there's been scandals where referees were involved, where referees were making calls they shouldn't have made, maybe calling fouls they shouldn't have called, and people getting paid. There's so much money being thrown around and, you know, the average referee, what do they make, you know?

    2. LB

      Hey, dude, so I saw you at the ... I'm a giant Georgia fan and I saw you, I was on the sideline, uh, on Saturday, and just, man, some of those calls- (laughs)

    3. JR

      Yeah, it was a bad call.

    4. LB

      It started getting weird. (laughs)

    5. JR

      We actually left after the first quarter and went to see Eminem, so we had an epic day.

    6. LB

      Oh, did you?

    7. JR

      We saw the first quarter of, uh, UT Georgia.

    8. LB

      Yeah.

    9. JR

      And then jetted and went to Eminem at the racetrack. Em- Eminem-

    10. LB

      Oh, the Formula 1?

    11. JR

      Yeah, Eminem played in front of like 150,000 people.

    12. LB

      Wow.

    13. JR

      It was fucking wild.

    14. LB

      I mean, what a weekend for Austin too.

    15. JR

      Yeah, it was incredible.

    16. LB

      I mean, 'cause I had buddies- I had buddies that were like, "Why are you not coming?" And I'm like, "Man, I've had to be me all year and it's like the weather's chilly in Nashville. My boys wanna go deer hunting, I'm gonna take them deer hunting, sit on my back patio, and scream at the TV and ..." But yeah, it got a little dicey there on the back. I- I was like, "Ugh." It was weird.

    17. JR

      Yeah. Well, th- just the energy. There's so much- so much anticipation for a game like that. But being there was crazy.

    18. LB

      You can't replicate it-

    19. JR

      No.

    20. LB

      You can't replicate it in any other- in any other-I guess those big, um, global, uh-

    21. JR

      Soccer matches.

    22. LB

      Brazil versus-

    23. JR

      Yeah.

    24. LB

      ... Argentina or whatever, or-

    25. JR

      We had some friends from England who had never been to an American football game before.

    26. LB

      What, what was their take on it?

    27. JR

      They were blown away. They're like, "Oh my goodness."

    28. NA

      (laughs)

    29. JR

      "Oh my goodness."

    30. LB

      (laughs)

  6. 18:28 – 21:37

    From casinos to conservation politics: reservations, legal loopholes, and wolves in Colorado

    1. JR

      It's just weird that it's only legal in a few states.I think that's expanding now. And then, I remember when online gambling was illegal.

    2. LB

      Oh, yeah, and then-

    3. JR

      Was not long ago. The early days of the UFC, online gambling was illegal.

    4. LB

      And then, man, you know, in... because we're obviously southeastern Tennessee Bible Belt, and I, I, I don't know, but there's, there's certain states. I guess Tennessee is a legal gambling state 'cause... Or maybe Georgia. I can't tell. I have to, I have to talk to my nephews, uh, all of his buddies, and see if they're on the little apps. But man, they'll go sign their buddies up to get the $200 free b- I mean, they got all kind of little racket. (laughs)

    5. JR

      (laughs) Yeah, well, and then also people would go to Indian reservations. That was the big thing-

    6. LB

      Right.

    7. JR

      ... which is-

    8. LB

      And then you gotta-

    9. JR

      ... also crazy. Like, gambling's-

    10. LB

      You gotta pay the-

    11. JR

      ... illegal.

    12. LB

      The re-, you gotta pay the Indian reservation tax.

    13. JR

      Right.

    14. LB

      You know, you gotta pay your 50 cent to do the dollar bet.

    15. JR

      Yeah.

    16. LB

      Do that math.

    17. JR

      Yeah, and you only have to be, like, a small percentage Native American to get a piece of that. So there's a lot of millionaires just hanging around that casino just enjoying it. But if you got a place like in Connecticut, like-

    18. LB

      Oh, Mohegan and all that.

    19. JR

      Yeah. They're great places.

    20. LB

      Well, see, you know, uh, uh, typically on my way kind of... The Mohegan, I'd go play there a couple years, or I, uh, one night I did three nights there, and dude, I'm, like, getting off stage just sitting there gambling and, you know, I'm like, "Am I coming out ahead on this gig or what?" But-

    21. JR

      (laughs)

    22. LB

      ... I think I got out of there making a little money.

    23. JR

      Yeah. It's, it's weird though that you could do that legally. Like, how... It's weird.

    24. LB

      Well then even, like, in Tennessee, in Tunica back in the day, you used to put a barge on the Mississippi River-

    25. JR

      Right.

    26. LB

      ... and you can gamble. It's like-

    27. JR

      Yeah.

    28. LB

      ... well, what is that all about? I mean-

    29. JR

      Right. That's that show Ozark.

    30. LB

      Right. Yeah, yeah. Well-

  7. 21:37 – 26:23

    Grizzly overpopulation and why management gets blocked in court

    1. LB

      My thing is... We are so governed in the world of wildlife biology through the states and stuff. They're not gonna let animals... They're not gonna let humans ruin animal populations, I don't think, anymore.

    2. JR

      No. Of course.

    3. LB

      If anything's gonna happen, they're gonna mess it up and let animal populations get too big.

    4. JR

      Right.

    5. LB

      Uh, I was, I was... And I don't know if I... I don't know who to name or whatever, but I was with some guys with Wyoming, and you know, we were talking about grizzly bears.

    6. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    7. LB

      And I said, uh, "Man, you know..." Because they, they brought up, you know, grizzly bear problems, and I said, uh, "Well, what, what, what is the deal?" And they said, "Well, there's 1500 or 14 to 1500 grizzly bears in Wyoming. There needs to be 500 to 600, and, and five of the 1500 are only hunting humans." Like-

    8. JR

      What?

    9. LB

      ... have totally, have totally-

    10. JR

      But there's not that many human deaths.

    11. LB

      Well, uh, you've bet- In Yellowstone, you, uh, if you pay attention, there's about two or three that get, that get-

    12. JR

      Right, but those 500 grizzly bears that are just hunting-

    13. LB

      No, five.

    14. JR

      Five.

    15. LB

      Five.

    16. JR

      Oh, five.

    17. LB

      Five, not 500.

    18. JR

      So there's five grizzly bears-

    19. LB

      There's five. Right, there's like-

    20. JR

      I was so confused.

    21. LB

      ... five gris- Sorry. I'm, y- This probably won't be the first time I am not totally clear with you, but yeah, so there's, there's fif- four to- 1400 to 1500. There needs to be 500 to 600 grizzlies and... But of the, of those five to six- oh, of the, all of them, five of them are, have, like, "Oh, we don't, we don't care about salmon anymore. We want to sit by this trail and pick off this hiker."

    22. JR

      Jesus Christ.

    23. LB

      And that is, that is a high up biologist in Wyoming telling me that. And I'm like, "Well, why won't they let y'all go in there, let some hunters..." Think about the, the... You can do the math. Char- Do a $30,000 grizzly bear tag.

    24. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    25. LB

      Do a $20,000 one. They'll go for that.

    26. JR

      Yeah, for sure.

    27. LB

      Um, go in and let it, manage it right, but there's one federal judge that's got it all shut down, one judge, and-

    28. JR

      That's so crazy. My friend went, uh, moose hunting, said he saw no moose and he saw 12 grizzlies in Wyoming.

    29. LB

      I went on a bear hunt in Alberta, and there's so many grizzlies now you can't even go... It was through Cam's people.

    30. JR

      John and Jen, yeah.

  8. 26:23 – 31:44

    Terrifying grizzly encounters in British Columbia: close calls and ‘grizzly spit’ beer

    1. LB

      Well, and- and so I went on a, uh, I went on a, uh, salmon trip up in British Columbia and what you s- 99% of your interpretation of a grizzly is this big old fat chunky thing. Well, so we're flying in on these helicopters to go fish the salmon runs that are running up into the mountains of British Columbia and it's an amazing trip. Like, you fly over in the helicopter, you look down, you see the huge schools of salmon, you take your fly rod and you go catch them and drink your beer. Well, the helicopter pilot was like, "Hey, man, we've seen some grizzlies in the area just..." And, you know, at the time, we're like, "Man, this is all part of the, uh-"

    2. JR

      Experience.

    3. LB

      Yeah, it's like get a- get us kind of going a little bit. Well, we land and the night before, we didn't fish that day, so we'd flown in and drank some wine and dude, you know, my eyes are like fuzzy and we're fishing and I tell my guy I'm with, I'm like, "Hey, I'm gonna go to the helicopter and get a- a beer or something." And- and dude, I get there and I pop my beer and I'm like, I look down the river and I'm like, "Fuck, that is a fucking grizzly coming toward my buddy." And I went, "Jay." And dude, it was slim and like a damn- it was lean and like a greyhound. Not- I- I wouldn't say lean, but it hadn't- it hadn't got all fat-

    4. JR

      Fattened up.

    5. LB

      ... on salmon yet. Well, it comes down the bank and jumps in and- and we ease back to the helicopter, we look back, here comes another grizzly, literally 30 yards from us. And I'm like... We get there and I had left my beer on the bank and my grizzly sticks his tongue in my beer and then he jumps in the river. I run, grab the beer, drink-

    6. JR

      (laughs)

    7. LB

      I'm like, "Grizzly spit." Anyway, the helicopter pilot goes-

    8. JR

      You did not drink a beer after a grizzly att-

    9. LB

      I dr- I had a sip of it after. I had to.

    10. JR

      But that's, like, what-

    11. LB

      I mean, he's just like-

    12. JR

      ... kind of trichinosis and wild shit are you gonna get from that?

    13. LB

      Yeah, some berry infection or whatever, salmon infection.

    14. JR

      Yeah, some moose ass.

    15. LB

      So listen, dude, we get on the helicopter and the pilot's like, "Man, they're- they're getting too comfortable." We take off, fly a mile down the river. I- I had already had my fly rod together, I never broke it down, so I sat it in a little basket and we land. I take off about 200 yards, start fishing. And I had- I had- I had to slide down this like 20-foot cut bank where the river had cut the bank. I look across the river and here comes a grizzly bear galloping-

    16. JR

      Oh, boy.

    17. LB

      ... on the other side of the river. And I'm like... Well, I'd already seen the other two mature ones and I was like, "Well, that's a baby grizzly, that's..." I was like, "That's cute." Dude, that grizzly hits that bank on the other side of that river and jumps about 20 feet in the air and lands in that river.

    18. JR

      (laughs)

    19. LB

      It looked like a- a Volkswagen VW Bug hit that river.

    20. JR

      (laughs)

    21. LB

      I take off to the helicopter. All my guys are like, "Get here, get here." A mother and two s- two of the babies were on my tail.

    22. JR

      Oh my God.

    23. LB

      And when I got to the helicopter, dude, ruined my whole trip. I couldn't relax. (laughs) That's how scary-

    24. JR

      That's when it gets scary when you're around the mothers.

    25. LB

      Oh, they're- they're the ones that, um-

    26. JR

      They fuck everybody up. Yeah.

    27. LB

      ... in two seconds.

    28. JR

      Yeah, they don't play any games.

    29. LB

      Yeah.

    30. JR

      When they have their cubs with them, they don't take any chances, like, "I'm gonna incapacitate this dude."

  9. 31:44 – 36:38

    Bear management realities: New Jersey’s massive black bears and ‘ballot biology’ in neighborhoods

    1. JR

      You know what happened in New Jersey, right? The governor ran on this policy of banning the grizzly bear hunt, and he got in ... or excuse me, the black bear hunt. And so-

    2. LB

      In Jersey.

    3. JR

      In Jersey. Jer- Jersey has the most black bears per capita in the country, which is crazy. I'm gonna send you something 'cause I sent this to Cam, uh, last night 'cause it's nuts. This dude just shot the, um, state record.

    4. LB

      So it's back in.

    5. JR

      Yes, it's back in-

    6. LB

      Right.

    7. JR

      ... immediately. (laughs) Because they had so many interactions. Joe-

    8. LB

      My mother lives in Mexico Beach, Florida on the Panhandle.

    9. JR

      Oh, there's a lot over there too.

    10. LB

      And they ... like, trash cans turned over every day, crazy amounts in S- in South Georgia-

    11. JR

      Joe.

    12. LB

      ... and Florida.

    13. JR

      Yeah, that's it. So I have a photo-

    14. LB

      Seven-

    15. JR

      ... of the bear. Jamie, I'm gonna send it to you, next to the dude who killed it.

    16. NA

      Rare.

    17. JR

      That's a good one.

    18. NA

      Okay.

    19. JR

      Here, I'm gonna send you this too. Uh, but look at that, the size of that bear. So this is in New Jersey. This is New Jersey. (laughs) Look at this New Jersey.

    20. LB

      Who would ever even-

    21. JR

      That's a 770-pound bear in New Jersey.

    22. LB

      I never ... I didn't know they were- they were up there, that-

    23. JR

      They're dense, dense with bears.

    24. LB

      Look, see-

    25. JR

      I have a buddy who lives out there. He says he sees them all the time.

    26. LB

      Well, so down in the furthest most southern corner of Georgia, Bainbridge, Georgia and all that, and then Mexico Beach, Florida around Lake Seminole, I mean, they're- they're everywhere down there.

    27. JR

      They're all over the place. You got that photo of that dude laying next to it?

    28. NA

      Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

    29. LB

      Yeah.

    30. JR

      Look at that. Look at the size of that thing. Now, that pi- that article says 800 pounds. That's from Sever Broadheads.

  10. 36:38 – 43:54

    Why hunting matters: respect, food connection, and cultural hypocrisy about meat

    1. JR

      What's the problem, what we're dealing with here is ballot biology. It's all people that are very emotional. Most of them live in cities. Before I ever hunted bear, before I ever hunted at all, I was like, "Kill a bear? Why- what an asshole." You don't have to be an asshole to kill a bear. And then you get it, I'm just-

    2. LB

      I was the same.

    3. JR

      Yeah.

    4. LB

      I was kind of the same way.

    5. JR

      But you probably had more hunting experience than me. I grew up fishing-

    6. LB

      Well, I had white tail hunting, and I remember, man, you know, being a- a 14-year-old kid shooting a deer and- and having remorse, but then you need to have that remorse too as a hunter.

    7. JR

      Right.

    8. LB

      You need to understand-

    9. JR

      You're taking a life.

    10. LB

      Yes.

    11. JR

      Yeah.

    12. LB

      And you need to-And I tell my boys that. My boys have grown up in it, seriously, and I'm like, "Hey man, w- hold up."

    13. JR

      Right.

    14. LB

      Let's just don't run up to the, run up to it, chuck it in the machine, just, just do a little homage.

    15. JR

      Respect. Yeah.

    16. LB

      Right, so go ahead, but that-

    17. JR

      Yeah.

    18. LB

      But the remorse, go ahead, though.

    19. JR

      The remorse is important. It's, it's a part of the experience. Like, you have, you are now connected to the food that you're gonna eat.

    20. LB

      Right.

    21. JR

      And I think that's what most people don't have, and I think, I think that's bad for us. I think all of human existence has been wrapped around hunting animals, and we hunted them ourselves forever, and then we eventually figured out agriculture. But when we hunt- w- we hunted 'em ourselves, most of the time that humans were human, and we had this deep connection to this animal because this animal was gonna sustain our family. And they used it, they took the cl- the, the, the skin from it and they made all kinds of things. They took the tendons, they made strings for bows, they-

    22. LB

      And the fur. Gosh.

    23. JR

      Yeah, like the fur. I mean, it's what their clothes were made out of, they ate all the organs, they ate everything. It sustained everybody, and that was how people lived, and then when people stopped living like that, we got a little confused. I know people that eat meat. Like my wife was at dinner with her friends, and, um, the, the, the f- they were from England, and one of the friends said, uh, "Where's your husband?" And she said, "Oh, he's, he's, uh, elk hunting." And, and the guy s- made some sort, while he was cutting a steak, made some sort of like, "Oh, that's atrocious." Like-

    24. LB

      (laughs)

    25. JR

      ... "Why would you do that?" And she goes, "Why are you eating meat?" You didn't, like y- you paid a supermarket hitman to go kill that fucking steak.

    26. LB

      Listen.

    27. JR

      Like, this is so stupid, but when you're removed from it culturally, and England is basically removed from it culturally, there's roe deer there and there's some stag.

    28. LB

      Stag, yeah.

    29. JR

      But for the most part, England has a very small hunting population, and I believe bow hunting is actually outlawed there. It's outlawed in a lot of places in Europe. It's outlawed in Scotland. It's outlawed in a lot of places. So there's a, like a deep ignorance as, as to what's going on and what it is, and then they have judgment bec- based on these cultural norms of like... And there's mo- media depictions, media depictions of hunters in movies, they're never the good guys. They're always pieces of shit.

    30. LB

      (laughs)

  11. 43:54 – 48:04

    Teaching kids and access barriers: public land, landowner liability, and mentoring new hunters

    1. LB

      So my 14-year-old has been going to Colorado with me since he was five or six, and when they're that little, obviously they can't bow hunt, but we would get an elk down and I'd let the boys hike up with me and, and pack the elk out. And one day we had another hunter with us going to get an elk, and my two little ones were following me, and I said... Well, we had a elk bugle and I said, "Hey boys, stay right here." And they're, they're six, six and eight. And we went up the hill and I could keep... Well, Tate, right before I walked off, he goes, "Dad, are they gonna kill us if we sit here?"

    2. JR

      (laughs)

    3. LB

      Because there was a elk bugling. I mean, you can feel their bugles in-

    4. JR

      Yeah.

    5. LB

      ... the woods. And I said, "No, son."

    6. JR

      You feel them in your chest.

    7. LB

      So we went up and tried to call this elk in, and then some elk did actually cross in front of them, and they're six and eight, and just sitting there at this big, this big herd of elk coming by and we'd come back, and I was watching... I could see them sitting down there on this, this tall log that I put them on, but I got back and they were like... Those elk were... I mean, you know, having your boys, I mean that, that's, that's what I live for, and to, to keep the... You know. And I, I just wish we could create a narrative where getting your children doing that will, will... I mean, I don't know. I-

    8. JR

      Well, hunting is a very difficult entry. It's very difficult.

    9. LB

      It is.

    10. JR

      If you're a person who's, like, listening to this, like I've, I've never hunted before but I'd like to learn how to do it, good luck. It's very hard to do.

    11. LB

      You're right.

    12. JR

      Very, very hard. It's very hard to find someone who's gonna teach you, who has the patience to show you what to do. If you've never shot a rifle before, it's very hard to understand, like, what is the difference between a 300 Win Mag and a seven millimeter or what?

    13. LB

      Yeah. It, it-

    14. JR

      Or this and that?

    15. LB

      That, that's the... That is the tricky part, really, with all outdoors.

    16. JR

      Yeah.

    17. LB

      If you could, if you could bridge the gap between, um, all parts of urban life and allow urban life to, to find a place to go, but the, the... When... We went through a phase in outdoors where landowners were like, "If you hunt my land and you twist your ankle and break your leg, you're gonna sue me, so know you're not allowed to come hunt my land," so all the deer get overpopulated, eat all my crops. And then... So I think now states, I think Tennessee has put a law in to where some of those, uh, getting sued... Well, what I'm, what I'm saying is that feeds people's inability to go find somewhere to hunt, too.

    18. JR

      Right.

    19. LB

      I mean, you're... So many people don't have a 50-acre farm. They can't afford it, but they want to go hunt, and then I just hope the hunting community and even the whole outdoor community can make it more accessible, and landowners. I mean, I had this little lady that, that, um, um, I wanted to turkey hunt. Her... She had 60 acres, it bordered, like, a 300-acre track of mine, and I was like, "Ma'am, when, when I'm out hunting and some of my turkeys or our turkeys may cross onto your property, do you mind if I go..." And she... And her house is a mile away from... Or, it's 50 acres, it's probably 400 yards. She thought my shotgun was gonna shoot through her house and kill her.

    20. JR

      (laughs)

    21. LB

      And I had to spend 45 minutes, and she grew up in Tennessee in the country-

    22. JR

      Right.

    23. LB

      ... and she doesn't understand-

    24. JR

      What a shot is.

    25. LB

      ... that a shotgun is not, you know...

    26. JR

      Right.

    27. LB

      And so, man, the education of it all just... The bridge and the knowledge of it gradually gets worse and worse.

    28. JR

      Right.

    29. LB

      But, but the need for it-

    30. JR

      Gets greater and greater.

  12. 48:04 – 1:14:04

    Elk, fly fishing, and leveling up: obsession, skills, and the adrenaline hook

    1. JR

      Yeah, I've done some wild shit. I'm gonna, I'm gonna send you a video, Jamie, of something that happened last week. So this, this is, uh, the best example of that. This is the best example of that. We had this elk and he was out at about 50 yards. We'd snuck it, snuck in on him. He was over the ridge. At 50 yards we could see the tips of his antlers moving around. I had my sights set at 50 yards, and as my friend was calling him, my friend was at a tree that was about 20 yards from me. He came right into our lap. So it was one of those things where I had him ranged at 50-

    2. LB

      50 and then boom.

    3. JR

      And then, and then I see him coming in. He's coming in. I dial in, I range him again at 40, I dial him in, I'm like, "Oh shit, he's coming into our lap." He just kept coming in. Watch this video. This is-

    4. NA

      Do you have it yet?

    5. JR

      Dude, you don't have it yet? Goddamn.

    6. LB

      (laughs)

    7. NA

      You drop it on me faster?

    8. JR

      Modern technology. It didn't make it through? Oh, it's still going. Hold on.

    9. NA

      I'm hopefully compressing it to send it through iMessage.

    10. JR

      Oh, is that what it is?

    11. NA

      It might be.

    12. JR

      Okay, let me... It said it went through. Did it go through?

    13. NA

      I just got it.

    14. JR

      Okay. Bust out those cigars.

    15. LB

      You want it a little heavy or mild?

    16. JR

      Whatever you have. Here, here it goes. Check this out.

    17. LB

      Oh. (sighs)

    18. JR

      Listen to this. Listen to this, when he comes over the hill and gets angry. (elk calling) Like, when I heard that I was like-

    19. LB

      Oh.

    20. JR

      ... uh-oh, here he comes. So right now he's about 50 yards.

    21. LB

      What's your heart doing right now?

    22. JR

      Right now I'm pretty calm 'cause he's at 50 yards.

    23. LB

      Right.

    24. JR

      But now I'm realizing he's not gonna stop, so I range him again. (bow twanging) Now he's at 40.

    25. LB

      Oh, yeah.

    26. JR

      He pauses for a second. (bow twanging) He's staring right at me. I have to stop.

    27. LB

      Oh, yeah, so you're off to the right.

    28. JR

      I'm off to the right and I'm pressed up against a tree, full camo, hiding, in plain sight. So now he's moving out- so now I'm like, "Oh, shit." I'm moving my sight to 20. So now I move my sight to 20 (bow twanging) and I try to figure out a time to draw. So right here I draw, that's when he turns.

    29. LB

      Oh.

    30. JR

      He ni- he sees some movement.

  13. 1:14:04 – 1:29:36

    Duck hunting lifestyle: dogs, blinds, social ritual, and cooking wild birds

    1. LB

      So listen, I'm gonna-

    2. JR

      ... have ducks that even have, like, flopping wings.

    3. LB

      Oh, dude, we gotta... Listen, man. Let me tell you something. Dude, I got given a chocolate lab about eight years ago, and here comes this wormy-ass chocolate lab into my home. You know, scrawny, and since then, oh my God, that damn animal has thrust me into duck hunting just so I could take him duck hunting, and man, it is, it's that-

    4. JR

      That sounds like the same excuse you use with your kids.

    5. LB

      Right, my kid, yeah. My-

    6. JR

      "I have to go for the dog."

    7. LB

      Yeah, for the dog, he-

    8. JR

      "The dog needs some duck hunting in its life."

    9. LB

      But man, and my wife is, this dog, man, this dog can open every drawer in our house. He can open Frito Lays with his, he can smack Frito Lays open and eat 'em.

    10. JR

      (laughs)

    11. LB

      He can j- He can, he is, he's, he's pushed a porcelain pound cake, a pound cake on a porcelain island off onto the floor, ate the pound cake and the porcelain dish, and like, X-ray, 100 shards of porcelain in his stomach.

    12. JR

      Ugh.

    13. LB

      The vet's like, "Put that fucker out in the yard 'cause there's..." And if he makes it, if he lives, call me back. He lived, and now I have duck hunting properties and my boy, you know, so and my, we're in the house blowing duck calls. My wife's like, you know. I mean, my wife's like fi- f- four boys in the house, all of them blowing duck calls.

    14. JR

      (laughs)

Episode duration: 3:03:27

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